(does anyone still read this?)

College is busier than I ever thought. College is more caffeinated than I ever thought.

Here's some mani spam from from my phone. They're all pretty old and I can only kind of provide accuracy with polish information.

I'll do better in the future, maybe.

All done with acrylic paint on polish.

 One of my own PAINTS by Allya polishes over a random light blue.

 A horrifically inaccurate picture of China Glaze Flip-flop Fantasy

 Sally Hansen's Tweedy. Three coats. I love it.

Butter London Wallis with Sephora by OPI goldleaf topcoat

A sunset as seen from the bay at my school. No filter or editing, it seriously looked like this.

Let's talk nail shields

Okay, so I've proven that I'm inept at applying full nail stickers ("shields") right?

Jamberry sent me a lovely package of shields to review. Nine designs in total. Sparkly red! Glittering purple! Silver! Stripes! AHHHH, so many pretties. Except, except that when it tried to put them on.... They were thick, cumbersome, and didn't stay for more than ten minutes.

I contacted Jamberry asking for tips and they let me know that they had just reformulated and would send me new ones.

The new ones arrived and they are just as gorgeous and SO much thinner. Actually possible to apply. Not only possible, actually, but possible for ME to apply. Plus they come with instructions now, so that helps.
Something I figured out by the time I had moved on to my right hand is that it's much easier to finish off the edge of the nail if you pinch together the excess and file it off with a gritty nail file. Here's a picture:

I also managed to miss a bit of my middle finger, so I had to patch it up. After topcoat and in real life, I swear you can't even tell. In these pics, though, it's pretty obvious.

I know I got the "Dot" design, but I can't find a "Green Dots" on the Jamberry website. I did, though, find a TON of shields I want next. This one, for example, is calling my name. Any nail enthusiast should be able to find at least one design they want on their nails.

I'm doing a wear test with these now and will take pictures when I'm done.

Pros:
*Even someone as bad with shields as I am can handle making these look good.
*Intricate designs in not too much time
*The design is set the moment you get it on your nail, so no wait time!
*Supposedly long lasting. I'm testing this claim as we speak
*Cheaper than a salon visit
*Huge variety in designs available.
*Huge variety in sizes in every pack
* Definitely can get two manicures out of a pack

Cons:
*There's a bit of texture from the small wrinkles, if that sort of thing bugs you
*The shields are a bit pricey ($15 a set) and that doesn't include some stuff you'll need for application, like a file, cuticle pusher, and buffer
*In the words of one of my guy friends "Wow, those things seem like a pain in the ass. They look pretty cool, though"

Totes mah goats got these for review. That didn't change my opinion of them

China Nails

This is Pure Ice Draped in Satin with an Ulta polish (I don't remember the name, sorry!) stamped on top using my MASH plates. 

I really adore this combination.

Some products in this post were sent to me for review. 

A long time between posts

I know, I know, I haven't been posting regularly.

Well, I just want to say that I'm a senior in high school now (WUT?) and am pretty busy. If I don't check in for a bit, that's why.

Pure Ice sent me some awesome polishes right after Fourth of July and I got them way later (wohooo, vacation), but I'm posting them all now. I think they're still available at Walmart for a pretty cheap price.

There's silver glitter called Beware which I really liked. It was opaque to the eye in three coats, though macro disagrees (should've done a fourth, I suppose).

French Kiss is this incredible blue creme that took two coats. LOVE this one.

Draped in Satin is a frosty white. Yes, it is frosty, but it felt so elegant on. I surprisingly liked this a lot.

Show Stopper is a red crackle. I'm not super in love with crackle anymore, but playing with it was fun.

Speaking of playing, I threw the last nail look together in less than a half hour. Yup, patriotic nails can be *that* easy. No special brushes or anything, just the polish and the brush that is already with it.

Mash Stamping Plates!

I got 25 Mash (http://www.mashnails.com/) image plates in the mail recently and so far I'm over the moon with 'em. They work like a charm, the images are unique and fun, and there's so many to choose from. They all come individually wrapped and are each backed with some paper, just like Konad. Something to note: they're covered in a thin blue plastic film. You gotta peel that off before you can stamp!

Here's where you can pick these pretties up for an inexpensive $12.99, just about $.50 a plate: (CLICK ME!) Mash 26-50 is the set!

And here's some on the nail shots. This is Sally Hansen Presto Pewter stamped over Sally Hansen Blue-Away

And here's some quick comparisons to Konad. The images with the stamped "47" (pinkie and middle) are Mash. The other two are similar Konad designs I had in my stash. Of the two designs, Konad's houndstooth works better for me though I love Mash's abstract lines MUCH more.

Overall, I adore this set. It's inexpensive and has some really, really cute designs. I do think that all the individual packaging amounts to a lot of waste, and the Oregonian in me cringes at that thought, but that's just about the only negative I have.

I know this is a rave review, but that was not influenced in any way by the company's sending me these for review. I gave my honest opinion, just as I always endeavor to do.

Stained Glass Nails

I liked these. 

Things that make me laugh

Seven visitors to my blog have been led here by the search "that awkward moment when nobody cares". I'm so happy to have all this apathy?

Yeah, that made me giggle.

Anyway, here's a water-marble. It's not great looking, I rather unfortunately double marbled and smudged, when I should have a) left it alone and b) been patient, but it looked alright when not under a macro lens. 

Some people tell me they don't have nice nails because they can only buy cheap nail polish. Well, this look costs a total of $2 (if you want to get fancy and buy topcoat, that's available for an additional $1), and that's when it's not on sale. With our Rite Aid card and general sales I think this might've been $1.50 worth of products.  Wet n Wild French White Creme and whatever they call their black. And then a plastic cup, toothpick, bit of tape, and water from a tap.

So, yeah, you don't need to buy pricey indie polishes to have pretty nails (though it'd be lovely if you bought mine). 

A bit more daring and wearing

Yes, I found the pictures of those two Dare to Wear polishes that I had lost. And some nail art using said polishes. I liked this mani, but, then again, I like most floral manis.
Anyway, here's Our Secret Eden (not the name I would've guessed for this polish but that's okay, it's crazy gorgeous) and Moon River, which is more subdued in real life than in this photo.

You have me in stitches

Bows and stitching and navy blue (China Glaze First Mate), oh my!
Love this, so cute and fun. I had some issues with the bows on my right hand, but that was to be expected.
Idea is stolen from this tumblr

Here's your last warning- ENTER MY GIVEAWAY NOW! Go here.

Painting the roses red

I love me some floral nail art. This isn't my usual floral+rhinestones+glitter, but it's still super pretty. Super-duper pretty. Base color was OPI A Grape Fit and the swirling colors were ChG Ruby Deer and Milani White Canvas nail art.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here! Three more days left on it!


Some items in this post were sent to me for review.

Modern Animal

I loved this. The pictures just don't do it justice, it was so shiny and SO pretty. All freehanded, obviously I need more practice. Still, love it!

New favorite color combo

CC Take Me To Your Chateau over Lippmann You Can Leave Your Hat On. Bundlemonster stamped. It looked great matte, too.
I love the light blog over the nude, so interesting looking. I really loved this.

Sweaters for my nails!

It snowed! It snowed here and it so rarely does, so I made little sweaters for my nails :D
I didn't take pictures like normal because... well... this is more fun. Yeah, let's go with that.
I used Wet n' Wild's French White Creme and Red Red and then an itty-bitty brush. A little messy, but they looked good enough, I thought. I like the moose the best :D
(Inspired by NeverTooMuchGlitter)

I'm working on getting the give-away stuff together. It'll be soon, I promise. Thanks for helping me hit 500, everyone! Remember, I'm rather partial to people who are with me PRE give-away, rather than post. There might be an opportunity for an extra entry if you've been active on my blog before I announce what you can win ;)

Two quick photos

Attached to the SinfulColors holiday collections (see it here) were these two nail art polishes. A silver glitter in a clear base, Fashionista, which I found sparse, and a gold shimmer, Flower Girl, which I adore. The latter is a very, very yellow gold. A bit gaudy, and entirely perfect. They're shown here over AA Imperial Purple in a variety of designs (otherwise known as me goofing off). I have animal print and scroll-work in Flower Girl and a full coat of Fashionista as well as some stripes.


Now this is a fun one. American Apparel Neon Green with Dare to Wear Celestial Blue on top. Isn't it lovely?! So fun and summery. Celestial Blue is from DtW's Crack-m-Up line. It cracks nicely and is shockingly pigminted. I have one last Dare to Wear to show off (another crackle :D), but that can wait.



Some of these polishes were sent to me for review. I still gave an honest and fair opinion of them

Uber belated Halloween mani (China Glaze Let's Groove and Milani nail art in White), Sinful Colors Show Me the Way, and Sally Hansen Coco a-go-go.
All very pretty.
Again, I'm sorry for being gone so much. And these aren't watermarked. That's because my computer now hates Photoshop and it was either this or no post at all. Please don't steal my pictures.

Would y'all mind if I put some ads up? I'm trying to save up for a trip to Israel this summer, so I need to earn $500 in not much time, and I thought this would be a good way to get some cash.

Seeing spots

So, I saw Color Club's scented polishes, turned up my nose, and then forgot about them. They all like like CC neons I already own, and the gimmick of scent is actually a turn off for me (what if it makes me smell noxious?). But then, then Yum Gum happened. And it's so darn pretty. I wore it alone for 3 days, added the leopard print tonight, and will wear it until tomorrow night. It's walks that fine line between a true neon and a polish that's wearable for non-polish freaks. It's BRIGHT, but not retina-searing. It's actually perfect. Though, it's rather photo-shy, only reveling that pretty pepto-color in the worst of lighting. Please forgive me and my awful pictures (at least they're color accurate!).

3 coats.

Crazy nails

Wore this to school today. Got my index finger's nail stuck in a door (don't ask) right before heading out, so it has a quick polish repairing job, with a short nail. Since this photo, I've filed down all my nails to match.

A funky french manicure with freehanded leopard print. Crazy? Yes. But I liked it. Inspired by Wahnails.com

Garden nails

You know that calendar I posted for the nail looks I was going to do? You know, my last post? Well... Uh..... I can't post any more during the week as I have school and studying and I like going for BIG, high impact nail-arty looks now. So. Uh. I'll try and swatch and catch up to that this weekend, okay?



I was going to replicate my gnome nails from ages ago, but after drawing the grass I felt rather lazy and just did flowers. These got SO much attention, it was insane. Everyone had to take a look.

If y'all want, I'll do a tutorial.

Born Pretty store "Nail Patch" review

When these arrived in my mail box, there was a lot of squealing. A lot of jumping up and down and staring in awe. And then a lot of waiting.

I recently went to New York for ten days, and, prior to receiving these, decided that that was when I'd wear them. The packaging promises me eleven days of wear, and the design promises gorgeousness. It was a match made in heaven, right?

Sadly, wrong.

These wouldn't apply flat. The edges wouldn't stay down and they annoyed me every moment until I took them off, one hour later. I think, though, it was my application, not the product. I've never used this kind of sticker before from any manufacturer, and the nails applied latest did the best. The good news is, I was able to use only half a sticker per a nail, so I have enough for another manicure!

I'll be giving them another chance, the design's too pretty not to.




Products in this post were sent to me for review. That did not change my opinion of them or influence my review.